New Delhi:
CBSE is undergoing several changes in its examination pattern from the academic year 2020. Recently the board announced that 25% questions in all the subjects in board exam 2020 will be Multiple Choice Questions.
Now CBSE plans to reduce the number of questions in a majority of subjects and also provide with more options in selecting questions to answer with the motive of lessening the stress of students.
CBSE Class X and Class XII examinees will no longer have to answer a lengthy question paper in the majority of the subjects.
In the stipulated three-hour exam for Class XII mathematics, a candidate will now need to solve just 12 questions as against 19 in 2019.
Besides, examinees are likely to get more choices. There will be 33% internal options, that is, candidates will need to attempt 10 out of 13-14 questions, the Times of India reported.
Another big change is the increase in number of objective (one-mark) questions which range from 16.25% to 95% in some subjects, up from 10-12%, said the report.
Quoting CBSE sources, the newspaper said that a few subjects like English (language and literature) for Class X and Hindi, history and biology for Class XII will have fewer five to eight-mark questions and more two marks questions.
The objective (one-mark) questions will primarily be in the format of 'fill in the blanks', single sentence answers, 'true or false' and multiple-choice questions.
Key subjects across streams will have less number of mandatory descriptive questions. In the Class XII Sanskrit paper, the number of descriptive questions will reduce from 53 to 37, while in political science it will drop to 14 from 25. Similarly, for physics and chemistry, the number of questions to be attempted in 2020 will be 17, down by five.
Opting to objective questions will need students to do a detailed study and choose conceptual learning over rote learning. "The question papers will be developed scientifically without any compromise on quality. In fact, with more objective type questions, the students will need more detailed study. With internal assessment/practicals, students will move out of the habit of rote learning and schools can engage them with more experiential learning,” CBSE Secretary Anurag Tripathi was quoted as saying.
CBSE has earlier asked candidates to rely more on NCERT textbooks then on reference books to crack the MCQ questions better. Question setter may pick up any line from the NCERT text and turn the same into a fill in the blank or an MCQ. Only those students who are thorough with the subjects will be able to secure marks there.
